Sepang Qualifying MotoGP

Stand Well Back And Turn Up Your Callers. A Good Start Again From

Lorenzo! Dani Pedrosa Has Managed To Stuff It Down The Inside.

Has he got? Gas, he has. Rossi right in that. He has got to look

for a way back and he has done it. He is in all sorts of trouble here.

He has gone from hero to zero. At the end I am satisfied because it

was a good result, but I need to go faster in the race.

Oh, dear me! He has missed the corner. He is down, he is down! Dani

Pedrosa. Just what they did not want. Lorenzo knows it is a matter

of time. I think he will cut through. There you go. Marc Marquez

wins! When he passed me and tried to go away I tried my best to catch

him. When he overtook me I thought I was able to be faster. I saw that I

him. When he overtook me I thought I was hurting him. I may be touched as

cable and for that reason he lost. I am very disappointed for that . He

completely missed the braking. Not the first time but he missed it. In

the touch he broke my traction control system and I was flying, so

I only can tell you I was doing the right thing and there is not much to

take but the positive part which is physically after the crash I am

fine. Bittersweet podium champagne for

Repsol Honda at Arab in two weeks ago. Marc Marquez's World

Championship green is closer, Dani Pedrosa's is all but over. Welcome

to the plan for life qualifying ahead of the Malaysia MotoGP grunge

beware all of the talk has been about that incident between the two

Spaniards at their home grand prix. They were called in to race

direction for a review on Thursday afternoon and Marcus was given a

third penalty point to add to his two already this year, leaning he is

now just one short of having to start a race from the back of the

grid. It is a decision that has start a race from the back of the

caused much debate and decision here in the paddock but none of it is

more valuable or decisive than that of the rest are wrecked, Mike Webb.

A touch of light has that was is normally considered a racing

incident but I have to say we are looking all the way through the

season and the way Marc Marquez is writing and his superb writing skill

that has many times been close to contacting another rider and here we

have an incident where he has contacted and even though it is a

small contact the message we are contacted and even though it is a

sending to him is, if you are behind another rider, it is your

responsibility to make sure you are in control and don't contact the

other rider. The rider in front can only write his lies and know matter

what the rider in front of the rider behind has to take care said this is

an official warning and he knows well what he is doing, he

understands clearly the penalty and the reason for it and also the

position that it puts him in. He is one point away from having to start

at the back of the grid. He is aware of that. I expect him to perhaps not

at the back of the grid. He is aware modify his style but to take more

respect and a little bit more margin for error in the way he writes when

he is close to other riders. So, Marc Marquez getting his

knuckles rapped once again but essentially it is a penalty that

should not have a bearing on the outcome of the championship. Staying

out of trouble is the name of the game now for Marc over the next

races. In theory he can wrap up the championship at volunteer. A win or

two before them would sort it out, even before we get to the final

round. Exciting but delicate times even before we get to the final

at Honda. even before we get to the final

We are with the boss. We have heard from Mike Webb about the reasons for

the penalty for Marc first of all. What is the team saying about this?

Do you expect him to change his style now? If you look at his season

there have been a few times where he has been really aggressive. He has

an aggressive style, but not that much, honestly. We don't have too

forget when he was leading the championship. Sometimes what looks

like aggressiveness is just a mistake, you know? So I think it

will decrease even more this kind of mistake that seems to be

aggressiveness. One thing we have not mentioned is the 25 points at

Honda have been deducted from the constructors championship. I am sure

the team are happy to take more of the flag and save Marc in his title

bid but it sets a precedent, it is something we have not seen before,

teens getting docked points for technical issues. What is the HRC's

stands? We respect their decision. It was a tricky situation because it

was a rider on the same team, the same manufacturer, and Marc did not

really caused the crash, there was a problem with the bike, so we take

our responsibility but it is really bad luck. But we can improve. Dani

Pedrosa was angry after that race, understandably. How are the team

managing the relationship between the two riders now? Is there any

tension? For sure, it does not help, but they are both intelligent, they

had experience. This is racing. We are sorry for Dani because he was in

a good position in the championship but there is still a long way to go.

You never know. And with the championship in Marc's grasp, will

he ride a bit more cautiously and think of the point? The gap is

reasonable but for races in a row, for races with three in a row, it is

a demanding time and anything can happen. Thank you.

We will stop thinking about it for now, I am sure we will have plenty

more of that tomorrow. The boys just getting ready to go out for

qualifying so let's bring you up to speed on the order of play.

Dani Pedrosa has taken out his frustrations on the track. Yesterday

he was a second clear of Marc Marquez. Neither has managed to

improve their times today. Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith safely

through to Q2. Aleix Espargaro is the best of the rest. He is trying

to steal one of two available places through to Q2. Plenty for Charlie

and Steve to get their teeth into. We have had a bit of rain here,

typical monsoon conditions and it is very hot now. With one eye on the

whether it will be an interesting half an hour or so, isn't it? The

weather here is so variable, you are dead right. It could go any which

way in terms of conditions will stop they will want to get out as quickly

as they can, especially in a short session. Generally it rains later in

the afternoon, three or 4pm, which is exactly the time scheduled to

stop these lunchtime showers, we had a torrential one here yesterday at

mid-8 -- at mid-day. But practice want about to take place. As we

know, this is 15 minutes and the top two can squeeze their way through

into the final qualifying session. The hot money, as Matt was saying,

Aleix Espargaro the best of the rest. Also Andrea in only. And his

new team-mate for the time being. Yes, he took over Ben Spies' bite.

We wonder what will be happening to him, rumours are that he will end up

in Superbike next year, but we are also hearing that it has all been

sorting out with Alex Espargaro and he will be joining the team racing

here. Interesting to see what they do. They will be the independent

spec, whether they are allowed 24 litres. I know they will build the

FDR chassis later on. All very exciting. Hernandez sitting there

thinking about what to do as we watch the rest of the field already

circulating around. The key things about this, as Matt was saying, it

is ever so hot, very humid. This is a long track, a very fast-track, and

characterised by massive, massive braking zones, where the amount of

strain and pressure not only on the rider but on the tyre and the front

end of the bike was extraordinary. Yes, it is. 25, 26% of the track is

on the braking circuit. Second longest track. It is a top want and

big a big braking points. 1.5, 1.6 GS macro. Another big stuff as they

come back to the final in turn 15. It is an interesting circuit, built

way back in 1998. Way back! It seems quite a long time to me. I was still

a kid! Indeed you were. Thank goodness you have looked after

yourself. Randy De Puniet working his way through that. It is very

similar in many respects, like the big drag down the back straight with

the hairpin at the end of the pit straight. Fans of Horgan Lorenzo

will remember what happened to him straight. Fans of Horgan Lorenzo

-- Jorge Lorenzo. This corner here at the leisure offers the same back

-- Jorge Lorenzo. This corner here door pass, I guess, if people want

to push the point -- this corner at Malaysia.

We are seeing speeds of 200 miles an hour. The bikes are not as fast here

as at some of the tracks because there is simply no air around, the

engine cannot work efficiently. It cannot suck in enough air. Thin,

hot, wet, F. Not what you need. Cool, crisp air is what you want.

The horsepower way down. It is a fantastic circuit in terms of

layout. Different clothing direction changes, most of the riders really

love it. Valentino Rossi is a specialist here, enjoys it

particularly. It is a circuit which sees two pre-season tests so no one

has any excuse when they come back here for not knowing what to do and

at least having a good base setup. Interesting talking to the riders,

they all come back here expecting the bikes to be perfect having

tested, but they are not, they go off in different directions, sorting

their bikes and four other circuits and then come back here. But you are

right, everyone here has a base to start from, that is the upside.

Bearing in mind the inclement weather we have had, we have had

some good, long sessions here. It looks to be a fair bit bumpy at this

year. The track tends to get a tiny bit bumpy as the years go by. There

are good grip levels here. The Maureen angle you can get. It

induces more chatter. -- the more lean angle you can get. One of the

annoying and confusing things about MotoGP regulations is that you have

two classes of light and they are very different. Top MotoGP machines

cracking 320 K regularly, 325. These are running different regulations. A

big, long, fast circuit like this, they pay a bigger price than in most

big, long, fast circuit like this, other places. A longer period of

time to lose time when your speed is not there. That is right this guy,

Espargaro, is doing a really good job and you would expect him to

probably squeeze through. That is one of those machines, possibly the

best ART machine. Here we go, there is his brother who will join the

Tech three team next year, replacing Cal Crutchlow, and we will find out

what sort of lap time this will be. The times we are looking for by way

of a guide, the best time set by Espargaro, 2.02 .05. It was a

cracking time for Colin Edwards bearing in mind his fastest lap has

been double 03.05. Colin knows there is no points for free practice, it

is all about when you have got to do it. He is certainly the oldest rider

out there at 39. Can you believe Valentino Rossi is the second oldest

rider, frightening. Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi

will know as well, with the vagaries of the weather, you have to get out

and get a time straightaway. Colin using his time to think, no point

pussyfooting around, I might not have the session at the end so get

out there and get it done. Eight minutes maiming of this session. We

saw a shot of Andrea Iannone. We know he has got some more speed in

him because he has already done 2.02 this weekend. He had his second

chance to see what he can do. Colin Edwards still go through. That was

just a little bit slower, that time of his still stands. I would say the

just a little bit slower, that time person to knock him out of Q2 will

be Iannone, who is about to go out in his second time. Iannone on the

Pramac machine and also Yonny Hernandez, they are full-blown

MotoGP bikes, unlike this man here, Hector Barber on the CRT. You would

expect and they would hope, the MotoGP boys, that they will get

through. Espargaro is a giant. Colin Edwards doing very well so far.

Espargaro goes a bit fast and he takes off another -- he takes

another tense. -- another Colin Edwards is still clinging on

in second place. I expect that Iannone will be going out all guns

blazing. A good time from him. Espargaro, it

compares with 2.02.5. Often this afternoon sessions are slower

because the track temperature gets higher and things do not grip, the

engines do not work quite so well. It is not the committee we have had

in past seasons here. -- it is not the humidity. The tractor which was

just under 40 and it is rising now. It is very common to get track

temperatures way north of 50 which must put enormous stress on those

tyres. I suspect it was cooler for your run. I had the air conditioning

on the whole way! Colin Edwards having a think about it. They all

have time for one more shot at it. He has been struggling all weekend,

he is obviously new to the bike. He encountered some gearbox issues, the

team have told me it is probably down to his inexperience of riding

the bike come they thought the gearbox was a little bit -- was

probably OK. He has not done a half a second off his best. That is he

has knocked another half a second. Every rider out there is hugely

experienced and we are three quarters of the way through the

season. Joining the team at this point of the year will all with the

year will it be extremely tough. We'll Iannone bump Colin Edwards out

of this session? He needs to keep the momentum going.

He is 23 years old, Iannone, one of the younger guys in the field. He is

probably stretching himself a bit now. I think this is probably going

to do it for Colin Edwards, it could unfortunately knocking out of

qualifying one. Espargaro was thinking whether he needs to go out

or not. This is going to be very close but I don't think it will be

enough. He has got away. He might grab a bit back on the straights but

Colin Edwards, it would be quite a performance from him. He will stand

that bike up, try to get the power down, second year, third gear, he

goes over the line. He has done it. There you go. The Oracle has spoken.

Just pips Colin Edwards who is under a tenth behind that time. If he

chucks one more boot at it, you never know. It has inspired him to

put his helmet back on an Espargaro is going to run his second tyre, he

will have to get out there quick and get a reasonably quick lap. Get

everything ripped off, a long lap like it is, he has 325, you will

have to get his finger out a touch. He can't go out and join at race

pace, he will have to build it up a little bit. Trying to get a second

lap out of this tire, I would imagine it is a pretty forlorn hope.

-- this tire. We shall see what happens to Colin,

Iannone has gone quicker. But not quick enough. He is through so far.

I think Colin provably doesn't realise that Iannone has bumped him

back out of this section -- probably doesn't realise. This will be slower

but nevertheless, he is into the next qualifying session. This one

finishes in two minutes. Espargaro did get out in time to get one warm

up lap and get the tyres up to temperature before he fires in

another one. Colin will be kicking himself when he finds out he has

been pipped by such a small amount, seven hundredths of a second. This

is a very strong lap from Iannone. It is possible it could even

displace the time. It has. By a lot. He finished really well. The

midsection of the lap was average but he has smoked the time of

Espargaro. It happens, Lee, you are so busy looking at the time and you

miss your breaking point. That it happens commonly. It didn't look

like it was going to be a faster lap, it all came together towards

the end. I believe there is more time left. There is no radio contact

in this sport. Colin is back in the pits. We are hearing, and I think I

can see a few spots of rain. All I can see is our producer having

apoplexy. You would be no good at charades. The hand gesture was

ridiculous. It looked like he was charades. The hand gesture was

trying to catch a bubble! We will look at the pictures and wait for

the rain. It is pouring with rain, that has put a cat amongst the

pigeons for qualifying to. -- two. Colin Edwards will be thinking, why

didn't that come five minutes earlier? It will be interesting for

this next session. The top ten will be changing their bikes around, the

two that have gone through, Iannone and Espargaro, have got to get back

in and get their bikes reconfigured to wet conditions. Colin did his

best, it if it right from him, especially how hot it was. The

significant thing is that Matt Roberts will be frantically trying

to find somewhere to stand out of the rain to not mark-up his hair!

Iannone really nailed that. It was extraordinary, the differential. If

you were riding one of the CRT machines, it must be utterly

disheartening to see yourself really in touch until the full-blown bikes

get a stab at the back straight, then the front straight and take

that tenths out. -- take four tenths out. All of the bikes getting

changed, about ten or 15 minutes job to get them switched over. They will

be changing tyres but they then change the front fork springs, the

rear shock absorbers. They will probably change the wheelbase length

they might change the linkages, engine mapping, white and number of

things have to be changed. A ten or 12 minute job to get it done. The

teams are getting it sorted now. Iannone and Espargaro are going

forward into qualifying to. We haven't had a wet qualifying

session like this. The likes of Espargaro and co-, the CRT machine

will be a lot more useful now it is raining. A fascinating session but

most importantly, have you found a spot to stand out of the rain? We're

worried about it. I appreciate your concerns, I have found a very good

spot. Michael Laverty is with us, a bit of rain on your leathers,

frustrating for you? I guess you put in a fresh tire and it got spoiled.

That is it, we have been struggling a bit. Would pretty much fixed it

and got out about half of the circuit but it was easier, we went a

second quicker and then went quicker again in Q1. I didn't get the chance

because the rain came down. I am being more positive than I was this

morning. It is a lot easier to ride. Lookout, we might get run over by

bike here. Hopefully we have direction now so we can have a good

race. I can deal with it if I can push through it, if I stay on top of

the chapter you cannot dig the tire in -- the chatter. A four o'clock

race tomorrow, it usually rains around that time of day. What do you

think about that? It would be quite cool, I have not had a wet session

yet so it will be a bit of a baptism of fire. I go quite good in the

wet, I was fast earlier in the year so I would welcome a wet race, it

would mix it up and make it a bit easier in these temperatures, it is

so hot and humid. With the humidity, the area so think you don't get a of

oxygen. It is quite demanding, it is a work-out for all the team, they

are sweating all day long. Same here, thanks. 19th on the grid,

Michael, tomorrow. Let's take you next door. The garage door has come

down. Here it comes. No sign under their of Stefan Bradl's second bike,

or the rider himself because he had a crash in the final free practice

this afternoon, which is basically a shakedown before qualifying takes

place. He came off at the end of the straight, got his folks stuck

underneath his bike. -- his foot stuck. And otherwise inconsequential

clash, -- crash, not much damage to the bike but he gets his ankle

trapped. He has been undergoing x-rays and the medical Centre have

confirmed that he has got a fracture in his foot. He will not be taking

part in qualifying and he will face a real race against time to get fit

for tomorrow's race. But we have seen it done before. It was an

incredible accident. So in consequential, it just looked he had

snagged his foot. I think it was on the Astroturf, that is what did the

damage. It did look to me when we saw the replay that, as he was

sliding, literally one of the best corners you could crash on, loss of

run-off, not very fast into the corner in comparison to some of the

others, but I think he snagged it where it went from the tarmac

through to the Astroturf and that is what has pledged his ankle. Bad news

for him but if it is a fractured ankle we have three races coming up

and that will put paid to his chances in the championship.

Currently sitting in sixth position, Stefan Bradl, so bad news. Never a

good time to break your ankle but at the start of three races

back-to-back, about as bad as you can make it. He is right in the

thick of it, in the hunt for points, so it could be costly

indeed. Getting back to what Michael was saying to Matt in the pit lane,

trying to set up and get around the chatter. The interesting point he

races, we have got it nailed in some corners and not others. The speed of

the corner... And how bumpy it is and the grip you have around it.

Chatter is an electrical problem -- like an electrical problem you

having your car, something you cannot pinpoint, it could be so many

things, it could be something you could change on your engine mapping,

something to do with forks, all sorts of components can affect

chatter and it is all about working your way through the system. As we

heard from Michael, they said they have got it sorted out on some of

the track. On other parts, it is loading up a lot more. Colin

the track. On other parts, it is Edwards' Garrard was a pretty

interesting qualifier for both of those. You did not need the rain at

the end, did you? No, it is like this every year. Every time it can

be rain and it can be sunshine but this every year. Every time it can

it is OK, we do our job. I am feeling good because yesterday was

more than one second and now we are close, 0.3, so I am so happy. What

do riders want for the race? Quite a few said they would like a rain race

because it does not exert so much from the body and with the

temperatures like this you need to keep all your energy down as much as

you can. The problem here is like, if it is raining it is so hot, so

maybe it is worse than if it is sunshine, because the humidity, the

heat from the ground, and we never arrived here when the rain is

weaker. Tomorrow will be interesting with the Ranger in the race. I am

almost sure it will be raining tomorrow. Well, good luck in any

conditions. Claudio Corti is riding well. This is a really interesting

little problem they have got here, because although we have just had a

huge clump of rain, it dries fast as well which makes the tyre choice

tricky. It is hard to imagine wet well which makes the tyre choice

weather tyres surviving a lap. It looks to me it will be better as it

goes on but we only have 15 minutes so it will be tricky as to what you

can get away with. I think most of the guys will go out on a wet tyre

but will have to evaluate what is going on and see if they can change

around. We spoke about changing your bags, in MotoGP they have two bags,

so they can have one for dry and one for wet and decide what to do at the

last minute, but we have got about seven minutes before they set off

out. The Ducati boys will probably be looking forward to it if it is a

bit clement out there because they have not had much luck sorting out

the chassis in dry conditions so let's see what they can do in the

wet. It does dry so quickly, the rain has completely stopped, so

there is a chance they will be out on slick tyres. The sun coming back

out again, so that will dry it in no time flat. It really is four seasons

every hour here. It is like a big grow bags, like living in a dog's

mouth. I have never tried that! The Sun out, everyone getting ready.

Bradley Smith having a think about it. He has made it straight through.

Bradley Smith having a think about He is into the top ten. He did not

have to think twice about it. Slick tyres, there we go. I don't think

they will set any pole position lap times or breaking any times with the

track almost certainly having damp parts on it, and if it is but it

track almost certainly having damp will look it. Standing water on a

couple of the corners, as I recall. Your form guide for this session.

Dani Pedrosa, Lorenzo, Rossi, the fastest three across the practice

sessions leading up to this. Then it was Bradl, who is not starting now.

Marc Marquez was only 50. Therein mind these are quite close together

with the exception of the drizzle, who was head and shoulders above

everyone else, a rare thing for him -- with the exception of Dani

Pedrosa. Now you have Iannone and Espargaro in the mix as well. The

best time so far is two minutes and 5.54. It will be blown to

smithereens if they can get a dry enough line. It is amazing how quick

it dries out. It was torrential rain that we had. If we were at Donington

Park or brands Hatch it would not try for six hours. It would be dry

on Tuesday! Because the circuit is so big, you can get torrential rain

at one part, like a flood, and then huffed and sunny on the other part

and it can really catch people out. The rain flags here are critical for

people to know there is wet weather and head. One thing they have to

become full of is that the tarmac might be dry but there could be damp

parts on the curves, places they would run up. He is thinking, what

is the point of me going out there. We will have a look at Aleix

Espargaro. Another thing to watch, they go out in such a cautious

manner that if they are not careful, we just saw Bradley Smith

circulating, you are going so slowly you could lose heat in the tyre if

they are not very, very careful. Interesting they have gone for the

softer front tyre as well, which is not normally the way. I would

imagine most of the teams did that. They might go to a harder front tyre

for the second session. He is saying, go away from me, leave me

alone, I don't want to be followed. I wonder who that was? Bautista?

Your money is on the artist, isn't it? Guess. -- your money is on

Baptist. Marc Marquez leading the world

championship. Strangely, only 50 across the course of the three

practice sessions. Expect him to do something superfast and literate.

The man at the moment, though, on this circuit, is Annie Pedrosa. He

won last year and has been supreme across the weekend. That was a big

moment for Jorge their! I don't know if he is off the track. Maybe the

track has still got some moisture on it. That is his first fast lap

scuppered. That will not help artist who, he was clinging on to him as

well. -- that will not help Alvaro Bautista. That proves it was holding

well. -- that will not help Alvaro the water there, he did well to

cling onto that one. That was exactly the sort of accident that

ruined his year this year, just catching the water on the white line

next to the tarmac. Anyone following would see what went on there but

next to the tarmac. Anyone following they will have to say the lap times

will be nowhere near as fast as we have seen, simply because they

cannot use the curves and the paint, and that opens up the corners, you

can run a bit wider, and I hope all of those guys, they won't see what

we are seeing unless they were looking at the big screen to see

what happened with Jorge Lorenzo. Looking back over the statistics, so

many races here, so many qualifying sessions are confused by the

vagaries of the weather. You go back over the records and it is sometimes

hard to work out where the times came from. The circuit record lap

for a race lap was set by Casey Stoner back in 2007, can you believe

that? One of the few times we had a completely dry race. Valentino

frighteningly on the white lines. That was late. He has managed to

bring it back in, probably no cost That was late. He has managed to

to his time. They Lorenzo has set himself a big

task. He will have just one stab at this now. He has nine minutes

remaining to go out and have another crack at this. Valentino Rossi is at

2.03, clearly down to the rain shower. It is difficult to see from

the camera but I think around the back of the circuit there will still

be some damp, dark looking patches on the track. You try convincing

yourself you can go over those as fast as you can. Alvaro Bautista on

a pretty good laugh at the moment. Marc Marquez is also on a storm.

Only nine of the potential 12 riders are out there at the moment. Rossi,

Pedrosa, Smith. Alvaro Bautista goes second-fastest.

Valentino Rossi on a stonking lap here. Marc Marquez is about to go

fastest. It will all change when they go

across the line. Marc Marquez comes round the final corner. They ask

rolling in a big way. 1.5 seconds under already. The Reds went three

for Marquez. Rossi is on a bigger lap. Crutchlow! Cal Crutchlow goes

fastest. We are ready for another shower.

As it stands, Marc Marquez would start on the second row of the grid.

He will really have to set himself appear, cool hand Luke is sat there

waiting to come out. Valentino Rossi slightly held up Marc Marquez there

as he buttoned off the end of his lap. Dani Pedrosa pressing on. Cal

Crutchlow still eking out some good time but it looks he has buttoned

off. Yes, he has. Six minutes left, time to get every on. They will be

hoping like hell but it dries out. They are not so far away. About a

second but a lot of that is because they are unable to use all of the

curbs and everything else. Very clever from Lorenzo, everyone is

coming in, he is going out. He ploughs his own furrow, Lorenzo. Cal

Crutchlow is right in front of him. Not best pleased about that. Not

best pleased about a lot of things, he has has eight challenging

weekend, Lorenzo. It was not going his way yesterday. He could not hold

the line, he said the bike was running wide. This morning they got

it together, he set a time just three tenths slower than the time

yesterday by Dani Pedrosa in practice to. Dani Pedrosa, there he

is, the fastest man this weekend so far. In any and Lorenzo now our

contract. -- Iannone and Lorenzo now out on track.

The doctor is back out. To see if he can find a bit more time. Let's not

forget how important it is for the main protagonists here to get onto

the front row. The new tactic of Jorge Lorenzo, they start getting in

the term lap first. Mind you, here we have got from the drag race, it

is about a third of a mile, I would have said, down to turn one, they

will be up to about 170 miles an hour. A difficult scenario because

you cannot practice that start so hour. A difficult scenario because

you're breaking point will be later than it would normally be because

you will be 30 miles an hour slower, but trying to judge that amongst 24

other motorcycles or making about 210 decibel is very difficult. It

stands with four minutes remaining, one last go, I think they can

squeeze in one or two laps. Six 1000th of a second in front, great

stuff. Lorenzo is going to cross this --

the stripe to start his lap. It will be an interesting lap from him. It

scares me when he goes on those white lines. I think only the kerbs

are holding the water. Effort from Nikki Hayden, this should improve

things, it does come up into fifth place. Middle of the second row so

far for the Ducati factory rider. His team-mate is way back down the

road. Hasn't really recorded a time, so plenty of work for a lot of

people. Lorenzo is on a screaming lap. Marquez, that is not going to

stop... That has ruined that lap, he will have to aborted, he has a long

way to come around and come back and try it again. It has slaughtered the

tactics. He will do very well to make a front row out of this mess.

Lorenzo, seven tenths under, it is looking strong, really good. This is

just what he wants. Pole position would really help his cause. He has

got a bigger job trying to drag race the Hondas than most places. He is

most so smooth, just like silk. All of the other drivers have been

studying his style, the way he sits up and breaks in one fluid movement.

-- and Mark Marquez is the guy who has got

to sort himself out and have one last go at it. This is looking

really good for crutch low. Lorenzo, almost a second under. Lorenzo is

going to blow this sky-high, head down, bottom-up and across the line.

That is no time from my timing monitor. One second, how about that,

one second under. That is a huge lap. A full second underneath.

Crutch low has gone away a little but it is still good. Crutch low's

second, he is still hanging onto that. Dani Pedrosa has been traffic

Bautista has gone second, Rossi has gone second, has gone second, all in

the space of about two seconds, with a minute to go, how about that? --

Crutchlow has gone second. Dani Pedrosa is going to try to stretch

out what he can. I think he made a hash of pulling it up. It looked

like he was going way too deep. Have the tyres got enough in them? We

shall see? We have done a 2:07 but there has been a faster time across

the weekend. He will want to get as much of a buffer as he can. Marquez

on a good lap but not as much as Lorenzo's. It could get Lorenzo onto

the front row. He just has this lap to do it in. He may squeeze in

another, no he won't. Look at that, half a second! This is absolutely

extraordinary, it is neat and fast. Bradley Smith is ahead of him but it

shouldn't pose too many problems. He is tearing up the tarmac. Lorenzo,

head down, bum up again and Lorenzo across the line. It won't be enough

if Marquez keeps this in-line. Crutch low is on a good lap, too.

This is like a terrific qualifying, it is almost like super pole. Look

at this, Cal Crutchlow could get a pole position. It is going to scroll

again. Down into the last corner, he has had to Mark Dovizioso.

Rossi goes pole, volunteer Rossi -- Valentino Rossi! Marquez, how offer

second -- half a second, how about that? Dani Pedrosa, he did out-brake

himself and it is a stinker of a lap that? Dani Pedrosa, he did out-brake

from him. Marquez, the first -- fastest ever lap in a race meeting

that we have seen here. He just had that one go at it. Really bad news

for Dani Pedrosa, it just went south to stop Jorge Lorenzo, for all of

the great showing, is actually starting on the second row of the

grid. It is a nightmare in a bubble car for him, not good at all. Not at

all. Valentino Rossi is very happy. Stand up one leaded wheelie -- one

it was just the one lap that he had comedy was way out of contention

then. Lorenzo got unlucky, Valentino Rossi did a beautiful job. To really

give him some major speed. Is he happy about it? He will hurt himself

in a minute if he carries on. Nice to see Crutchlow back on the front

Row. He is getting his confidence back and getting the motorcycle

working, he has found some stability and it is all coming back to him

nicely. Interesting stuff. Espargaro didn't

go out? He did, he is ninth. Stefan Bradl qualified but did not take to

the track because he fractured his ankle, which is very unhelpful, in

an unspectacular, low side crash. He got his foot tangled as he slid onto

the Astroturf after the kerb. It's pretty special for Valentino Rossi

and Cal Crutchlow, a great job. Only two hundredths of a second, did

Rossi beat him. Launch control away, on board. Wouldn't it be good if

your road bike could accelerate like that? You would get to the shops

quick. You certainly would. He will not be happy. Good qualifying from

Bradley Smith, seven. -- seventh. The complexion of this race has

really changed, just from that qualifying. Lorenzo, as we were

saying, his new trick has been to get to the first turn first. It will

be mighty hard from the second row. Dani Pedrosa has probably got a

better shot at it. I would say so, Valentino Rossi will be very

pleased, the fastest of the Yamahas. They are saying, what

happened, how did you go that fast? It was a cracking lap. Really

strong. Confirming that, it is bad news, declared unfit, the man we

were just talking about, Stefan Bradl. It was a freak accident, I am

sure we will see it again over the weekend. It was one of those really

annoying things, moments before the session ended. Don't we talk about

this all the time? We keep saying, Marquez is going to win the

championship, it could have happened to him. It is one of those tiny

things that can go wrong. A little run across the gravel or whatever.

An innocuous crash and you end up with a broken ankle and it can

happen to anyone of riders. Good with a broken ankle and it can

work from Crutchlow, he looked pretty strong all weekend. Right up

until this morning's practice. He kept his head together and really

pressed on. So close, two minutes and 11 hundredths of a second, that

was it. There is the beautiful track. It covers a heck of a lot of

real estate. was it. There is the beautiful

track. It covers a heck of Look at the times between Rossi and

Crutchlow, it is a tight old grid. What a belter from Crutchlow on the

front grid. A few congratulations from Mark Marquez's dad,

congratulations on the front row, what can you do their tomorrow? It

will be very difficult, I have a real pain in my right arm from the

crash at Silverstone, I need to have an operation on it. We qualified on

the front row, we tried our best, the lap times were amazing

considering one corner was wet. We pushed hard for that. We need to be

starting on the front couple of rows to get away with these guys as best

as possible. But I am pleased. The team have worked endlessly all

weekend to find a bit of a setup. My guys, working on my arm. Hopefully

tomorrow will be a good race. Good luck tomorrow. He raises a good

question. With the injury he is carrying it is going to be a

problem. Eight is. Dani Pedrosa looking rather disappointed, it just

didn't go for him, you only have two chances and he missed them both. He

has been fastest all weekend but when it counts, he was not. Marquez,

when it counted, he was. Another lap record, you can't stop doing them.

When Mackay am so happy, especially because qualifying like this was so

difficult. The most difficult was the sixth and seventh turn, in the

beginning they were completely wet. I know the lap time will be on the

last lap because every lap was better and better. And, OK... We

will see tomorrow! Good luck. I don't know how much he will need, it

was such a powerful job by him. He was really quick, has been finding

his way and now it is really working. A good debrief between the

two of them. He can be magnanimous. It will be interesting. Anything can

happen at this circuit. If it is anything like the fun we had this

afternoon it will be a cracker. It is an early start, see you tomorrow

on BBC Two.